At a press gathering Tuesday evening in New York, showman Henry Schleiff, CEO of Crown Media, seemed to know the answer to the old showbiz question “Will it play in Peoria?” At least when it comes to Crown’s Hallmark Channel…
NBC has set a date for its 2008-09 upfront presentation. The network will unveil its prime-time programming schedule and strategy for the new season on April 2 in New York City. The event will be hosted by NBCU co-chairs Ben…
“NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams will host the 67th annual Peabody Awards. The Peabodys, which recognize “excellence and meritorious work” by organizations and individuals in media, will be presented June 16 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. The…
CLOSE-UP: Richard Fisher In January, Thomson Premier Retail Networks tapped Richard Fisher as president of PRN Worldwide, an in-store programming division whose retail partners include Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Circuit City. Most recently, before his arrival at PRN, Mr. Fisher…
The Weather Channel has ordered 14 more episodes of Towers Productions’ original series “When the Weather Changed History.” The drama revisits catastrophic natural events of the past based on stock footage and first-hand accounts. The Jan. 6 premiere, a chronicle…
Burke Magnus has been promoted to senior VP of college sports programming at ESPN, following the retirement of the department’s executive VP, Chuck Gerber. Mr. Magnus, who was most recently vice president of ESPNU, joined ESPN as a programming associate…
Fox Sports Network plans to broadcast 1,024 Major League Baseball games this season in high definition, doubling the amount of HD coverage from last year. “Increasing our commitment to high-definition programming allows FSN to offer greater value to our viewers,…
Advertising spending fell during the fourth quarter of 2007, leaving full year growth at a meager 0.2%, according to new figures from TNS Media Intelligence. For the full year, advertiser spending on network TV dropped by 2% to $22.43 billion….
Fox Television says it won’t pay a $91,000 indecency fine imposed by the Federal Communications Commission for a 2003 “Married by America” episode showing contestants licking whipped cream off of strippers, Daily Variety reports. The FCC had dropped the fine…
The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists may start talks with the studios as early as next Monday as the two unions are nearing a final bargaining proposal, Daily Variety reports. A joint board…